“New York City, after years of being considered a humid continental climate, now sits within the humid subtropical climate zone. The classification requires that summers average above 72 degrees Fahrenheit — which New York’s have had since 1927 — and for winter months to stay above 27 degrees Fahrenheit, on average.
“The city has met that requirement for the last five years, despite the occasional cold snap. And the winters are only getting warmer.
“For example, from January through March this year, the average temperature in Central Park was 42.5 degrees Fahrenheit, the second warmest on record, said Art DeGaetano, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Northeast Regional Climate Center.
“The record was set in 2012, at 43.1 degrees.
“Spring, meanwhile, arrived two weeks early this year. Magnolia and cherry trees bloomed in early March, a pleasure usually reserved for April.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/24/nyregion/climate-change-nyc.html
“Tropical Storm Hannah is heading toward Texas. The system, which formed in the Gulf of Mexico as Tropical Depression Eight on Wednesday night, strengthened into a tropical storm late Thursday.
“It is the earliest H-named storm in an Atlantic basin hurricane season.”
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/24/weather/tropical-storm-hanna-gulf-of-mexico/index.html
“The most active part of the hurricane season is still weeks away, but experts’ predictions for a busy season appear to be holding true, with the National Hurricane Center now monitoring two systems.
“Tropical Storm Gonzalo, which formed Wednesday, is expected to become the first hurricane of the season by Friday night.”
“The first hurricane to threaten the United States since the start of the coronavirus pandemic is presenting new challenges to Hawaii officials long accustomed to tropical storms…
“Late Thursday, Hurricane Douglas was 1,025 miles (1,810 kilometers) southeast of Hilo and packing maximum sustained winds of 130 mph (215 kph).”
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/hurricane-douglas-bears-hawaii-pandemic-flares-71957088
“July 23, 2018, was a day unlike any seen before in Japan. It was the peak of a weekslong heat wave that smashed previous temperature records across the historically temperate nation… Tens of thousands of people were hospitalized due to heat exhaustion and heatstroke…
“A disaster it was. But a natural one? Not so much.”
https://slate.com/technology/2020/07/climate-change-deaths-japan-2018-heat-wave.html
“The rainy season front over western Japan was gaining force Friday…
“Northern and southern Kyushu will see 300 millimeters [12 inches] of rainfall during the 24 hours through 6 a.m. Saturday…
“Earlier this month, deadly torrential rain and flooding in Kumamoto Prefecture left more than 60 people dead…”
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/07/24/national/kyushu-heavy-rain-forecast/
“Heavy downpours with strong winds have hit South Korea, causing flash floods that killed three people and left scores of people stranded in floodwater.
“The Central Disaster Management Headquarters said three people were found dead in their cars Thursday night, submerged in rain water in the southern port city of Busan.”
http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20200724000271
“At least 45 million people have been affected by floods, the worst in decades. The China Labour Bulletin reports that the government has overlooked rural areas.
“Migrant workers have been forced to return to their villages to help in relief efforts. Low-income households have been impoverished. Around 20 million low-paid workers are still unemployed.”
“Bangladesh could be plunged into a humanitarian crisis as it undergoes the most prolonged monsoon flooding in decades while it is still recovering from the effects of super-cyclone Amphan…
“Bangladesh’s ministry for natural disasters has estimated that a third of the country is already underwater, with heavy rains set to continue until the end of July.”
“”In our research, we captured both direct and indirect causes of African vulture loss, but extended this work to identify a wider range of cultural and physical factors in the environment that promote poisoning.
“This allowed our group to identify specific tactics that would discourage people from participating in the crime of vulture poisoning.””
https://phys.org/news/2020-07-african-vulture-poisoning-global-disease.html
“This weekend will be marked by the heat wave that will leave temperatures above 40 degrees in some parts of Spain…
“In the province of Córdoba, temperatures will reach their maximum on Sunday, where they will reach 44 degrees [111f] in the capital and in other areas, such as in the municipality of Montoro or Almodóvar del Río, according to AEMET prediction.”
“Firefighters are battling out of control forest fires in Greece. Locals and tourists have been evacuated as fires continue to rage near the city of Corinth in the eastern Peloponnese for a second day.
“The city’s mayor says the flames are out of control and has called for a state of emergency to be declared in the region.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-53517026
“A vast number of the 5,000 trees planted across North Somerset [UK] this year have died…
“… community and environment service manager John Flannigan said: “We planted the trees in probably the wettest ever February. We had perhaps the driest spring we’ve ever had. That combination has had an impact on the trees we planted.”
https://www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/somerset-news/lockdown-extreme-weather-kill-hundreds-4358330
““I almost don’t dare report this, but we’re expecting up to 16C in Longyearbyen [Svalbard],” Norwegian state meteorologist Charalampos Sarchosidis told NRK, “and it could be warmer than 20C during the weekend.”
““Normal” summer temperatures on Svalbard are around 6C, but climate change keeps changing things, and now it may be warmer in the Arctic than in Oslo…”
https://www.newsinenglish.no/2020/07/24/coldest-summer-in-nearly-30-years/
“A series of newly released images from Greenpeace International show megafires burning through the Krasnoyarsk region of Siberia, Russia…
“The fires are being helped by unusually warm temperatures, including a reading of more than 38° Celsius (100° Fahrenheit) in the town of Verkhoyansk — the hottest on record inside the Arctic Circle.”
“The temperatures at Verkhoyansk are part of a larger trend across western Russia this summer, with small communities throughout the region reporting temperatures that are smashing local records that have stood for decades…
“For scientists the world-over these record-breaking temperatures are alarm bells…”
“The East Antarctic Ice Sheet could be in more danger of collapsing than previously thought, National Geographic reports.
“The ice sheet is the world’s largest, holding 80% of the planet’s ice.”
“Worldwide emissions of methane have hit the “highest levels on record”, according to an international team of scientists.
“The finding comes from the latest update to the Global Methane Budget, an international collaboration that estimates sources and sinks of methane around the world.”
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/07/scientists-concerned-by-record-high-global-methane-emissions
“Kala-azar, or visceral leishmaniasis, is just one of many vector-borne diseases proliferating in recent years.
“In July, the UN Environment Program released a report stating that warmer temperatures are fostering disease transmission both by increasing the population of vectors – including sandflies, mosquitos, and ticks – and by lengthening the season that the vectors are present.”
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/climate-change-tropical-disease-spread
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